"So what do you say, kid? 100 gold divided three ways, that makes it 30 each, and all you've gotta do is bait the cat out, and we deal with it?"
A figure bulky enough to fit into chairs says to Eylin.
Silence.
"Do I look stupid or what.." Eylin murmurs while looking around the cafeteria.
"Why me?" he asks, pointing his index finger towards his nose.
"Eh …." the bulky fella stammers.
"That's because you look new and all other teams rejected us," he sheepishly answers.
"So I'm the last option, huh?" Eylin asks in between bites.
"Well, yeah, that and the fact that we're all new," the other figure answers.
"Oh, so you talk, huh…" Eylin turns towards her.
She shrinks back slightly, hunching back towards the seat.
Of course, our boy notices this instantly.
"Interesting," he murmurs, turning towards the other guy.
"So let's get this straight, the mission is a bounty hunt, right?" he begins.
The bulky guy nods in affirmation.
"Okay, and the pay is 100 gold upon completion?" Eylin continues mid-bites.
"
"Yeah, and you won't do the heavy lifting at all," the bulky guy reaffirms him.
"Okay, I'm in…" Eylin finally relents, but I get to keep the body and heart crystal.
He places the cup on the table, then turns towards his comrades for this particular mission.
"So how do we handle this…"
"Hahahahahahahahahaha, " a boisterous laugh follows.
"See, I told ya the kids got it in him," he says, turning towards the only feminine figure there.
The figure in question blows her bangs from her eyes, showing her deep violet irises that immediately capture Eylin's vulture eyes.
"Wow, would you look at that…" he exclaims, his eyes widening in shock.
"Yooooow oldy, you should've started with the fact that the chick is a golden goose or whatever she is hiding," he whispers to himself, but clearly fails terribly.
"Ahem, kid, don't talk to my sis like that…" the bulky guy coughs up, catching Eylin off guard.
"Little sister…in this day and age…." Eylin turns towards him, eyes hard, assessing and taking in every scratch, scab, and wound mark on his body.
His gaze turns towards the shy girl.
"I get it now," he says, "so you're the shield, huh?"
The bulky guy laughs it off, but Eylin notices his tense shoulders.
His lips tighten slightly, then relax.
"I'm Eylin, nice to make your acquaintance…" he offers his hand to him.
"Jackson .." the bulk guy shakes it then turns to the lady ", the lass is Jessy by the way."
Eylin commits their names to memory.
"You're a good man, Jack, too good for this hellhole we call a world."
Jess visibly trembles at Eylin's words that seem to have hit deeper than intended.
Jack takes note of this but just laughs it off like usual.
The air grows awkward.
So.
"So let me grab my stuff, then head out."
Eylin breaks the ice.
"Ahem …. Okay, we`ll get the paperwork done with," Jack answers as Eylin turns towards the heavy doors heading to his room.
With that, his figure vanishes from their view.
Thud.
Jack falls onto the chair, clearly exhausted.
Jess turns towards him, concern written all over her face.
"Is it worth it, brother?" she asks, voice shaking.
"Do we have a choice, Jessy? " he answers, his hand covering his eyes.
In the background, the whispers flow as usual.
"Have a grip on yourself, Jack," he pumps himself up, slapping his cheeks twice.
"Okay, let's go, we've got a spot to win for you," he says, getting up.
Jessy watches his back, noting the exhaustion hidden in strength.
"Uhm…" she silently agrees, following behind him like the shadow she is.
Eylin walks through the hallway leading towards his room.
The chill, cool guy mask slips, leaving his cold, calculating survival mask.
His thoughts ring back to the siblings.
Siblings.
Something that has become so foreign ever since the collapse.
But what he just witnessed is memorable.
His feet carry him straight to his door and straight to his messy room.
His eyes lock straight onto his daggers and constructs on the table beside his bed.
His hands move with a rhythmic mechanical sequence.
He picks the daggers "fang and viper," feeling the weight against his palms.
His gaze shifts to the bind constructs on the table.
15 ornate bone shards sized to perfection, glyphs pulsing as if alive, waiting to be of help to their wielder.
He picks them up, pocketing them into his handmade satchel before moving towards the mirror.
He stares at the mirror; the reflection stares back.
A young boy with eyes too dull for his age.
His dreadlocks seem to have seen better days.
Eylin pulls the string tight, securing his dreadlocks into a practical bunch.
The dullness in his eyes doesn't change, but the focus behind them sharpens.
He isn't looking at his reflection anymore; he's checking the weight distribution of his gear.
"Body lagging intent," Kaelin's voice echoes in his head.
"Tsk …." his eyes shift to his linen bedsheets. "These will do."
He tears them into thin strips and wraps them around his shins and hands, covering every open space his eyes can see.
The sound of tearing fabric fills the small, messy room.
Rip. Rip. Rip.
Eylin doesn't just wrap them; he cinches them. He pulls the linen around his shins until the blood flow sharpens his nerves. He wraps his palms and wrists, leaving his fingers free to dance across the hilts of his daggers and the etched surfaces of his bone shards.
"Kaelin's right. The insight is a Level 90 command running on Level 10 hardware. If I launch at full speed without these, my tendons will snap like over-tensioned wires."
He tests the tension. He flexes his hands. The linen is stiff, supportive. It's a crude exoskeleton.
He grabs his satchel, the 15 bone shards rattling with a dry, hollow click—like the teeth of a dead god. He doesn't look back at the room. He doesn't look at the mess. He looks at the door.
At the stronghold gates, the siblings wait, their heads shifting as if looking for something.
"Is he not coming?" Jessy whispers to herself.
"Come on, stop beating yourself over it, he wouldn't be the first to ditch…" Jack tries to reassure her but,,,,
"Ditch what 33 gold pieces…they must be idiots, the." a voice answers right beside them.
Eylin's figure appears clearly, setting him apart from his counterparts.
He walks over hair held in a bunch, white linen cloth wrapping his exposed shins and hands, a pair of white-and-black daggers lying silently.
"Wooooah, kid, what's with the get-up?" Jack shouts, grabbing Jessy's attention.
"Bedsheets …seriously, kid hahahahahaha…and what's with the scrap metal on your waist?"
Eylin clearly irritates him, shutting him off, "Focus on yourself, Jack. Time is money."
Noting the change of tone, Jack stops with his antiques, his face taking a serious expression.
"The mission is the death of a rank B shadow stalker in zone 4," he begins.
"Zone 4 is one of the 6 zones under Lady Shar`s control," he continues, gauging Eylin's reaction to the mention of their idol.
"Yeah, yeah, skip the bullshit and head to the point…" Eylin cuts him off, clearly still holding a grudge.
"Okay, so our task is to slaughter and clear its nest," Jack says as a matter of fact.
"Easy…" Eylin says while rotating his shoulders in preparation.
"So let's make it clear, no hidden agendas, right?" he adds.
"Gulp..no…none…" Jessy stammers.
"Suspicious.." Eylin comments behind his breath.
"Nothing, just keep walking…" Jack intervenes.
Eylin shrugs it off and decides to follow them since he's new to the area.
Soon, they go through the gate with no hustle at all, heading towards their target with ease.
BACK TO THE HALL.
Two figures remain, looking at the different spell versions, each aligned to different elements.
One of them drags her glasses down her nose in exasperation.
"I don't get it, Sharlene. How did you do it?" she asks the other figure slumped at the head of the chair.
"Stop overcomplicating things, Kaelin, "Sharlene begins.
She steps out of her chair, taking slow, lazy steps to the centre.
"Look at these…" she points at the spell circles, "it's the same as every other spell circle."
She opens up her palms, her eyes fixed on the fulmen bind spell she had just executed.
"It's never about the output, think of the syntax behind it…" she begins, " the bind spell is one of the most basic earth-based spells." Her eyes move from parchment to parchment.
"There, look at that..." she points at the original bind spell. "What do you see?" she asks.
Kaelin scrunches her brows.
Her eyes focus on the spell from the jagged outer lines to the eye wrapped in chains in between.
Then she moves to the other spells once, twice, thrice, till...
"Wait, I get it. Her eyes widen in realisation. She moves to the original pieces of paper from Eylin, looking at them deeply.
"This…" she points to Sharlene, "look, they're all the same … the difference lies in the core."
Kaelin's voice drops.
Her finger trembles slightly as she points to the centre of each circle.
"The outer structure… the chains… the containment rings… they're identical."
She flips to another parchment.
"Even the mana pathways… unchanged."
Her breathing slows.
"But this…"
She taps the centre glyph.
"…this is different in every single one."
Sharlene smiles.
Now—not playful.
Sharp.
Predatory.
"Exactly."
Kaelin's eyes dart between the parchments again.
Earth.
Lightning.
Frost.
Shadow.
Same spell.
Different behaviour.
Her mind starts connecting the pieces.
"So the spell itself doesn't change…"
She swallows.
"…only the source concept does."
Sharlene nods once.
"Bind… is not an element."
She raises a finger.
"It's a function."
Silence.
Heavy.
Kaelin's voice comes out slower now.
Careful.
"…and the element…"
She looks at the glyph again.
"…is injected at the core."
Sharlene's grin widens.
"Not injected."
She corrects.
"Defined."
A pause.
Then—
Boom.
Kaelin steps back.
"…that means…"
Her voice tightens.
"…spells aren't tied to elements at all."
Sharlene:
"They never were."
Kaelin's thoughts spiral.
Then land.
Hard.
"…any spell…"
She looks up.
"…can become any element…"
Sharlene finishes it:
"…if you control the Prime Glyph."
Kaelin turns to her, "What type of monster have you brought to us, ma`am?"
Sharlene grins, "the type that doesn't realise its true worth….yet..hahahahaha."
ZONE 4
The transition from the stronghold to the zone feels akin to stepping into a cold, wet grave to Eylin.
His eyes shift from Jack's leading figure to the ruins surrounding them, a vivid scar left of what was once a thriving trade centre.
Jack leads with her sister following right behind him with her wand in her trembling hands.
Eylin scans them and the surroundings, taking everything into account.
He recalls the little information on the target and sighs.
"Let's hope this turns out just fine," he whispers to himself.
Jack glances back at his sister, "We're close..." he says.
He glances, his eyes locked onto the rundown apothecary, eyes hardening.
His stance shifts, lowering his shield.
"Ready on three," he says to his team.
Eylin grabs his daggers, weighing them in his hands while Jessy clutches her wand tightly.
"Alright, we`ll go with formation 5, I'll lead, Jessy will look for openings, Eylin will grab its attention."
He finalises his plan before casting his spells.
"Terra cutis"
The air shifts as spell circles surround him.
The earth beneath his feet shifts and rises from his feet to his head, forming a compact earth-like layer on top of his skin.
He rolls his shoulder, adjusting to the new weight before crouching low and sprinting into the apothecary.
Boom.
Jess follows right behind her brother, wand in hand.
Eylin, however, doesn't follow through the front; instead, he takes slow steps, making no sound towards a side wall.
The moment he steps into the wall, a shadow wheezes straight past him.
His eyes shift to the centre only to see Jack's crouching figure rising a dent evident on the shield.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr…..
A growl sounds from his left, followed by twisting air before "bang!!!!!" Jack is tossed against the walls.
A grin forms on Eylin's face as he crouches low, taking a stance from his doctrine.
His body still, eyes tracking the shadow before lunging and "STAB".
"Finally, some action."
But …
"MISS"
His daggers meet neither flesh nor bones but empty air.
"Figures", he whispers, turning towards Jack, " you okay, mate?"
"Still breathing…" he says, recasting his spell once again.